The Dagger in the Drawer [Solo]

Bobby and Nero sat on the ocean, just chilling. It was mandatory warming up training, that Bobby wasn't very fond of. But alas, just like Nero, he too respected the leader of his clan, and followed every one of his orders. This was no different. It was a job, even though Nero was slowly growing on him. The boy seemed to be genuine, even if somewhat dumb... Simple, was the way he would have put it, if not for his lack of patience for dumbness. Nero on the other hand, had close to no problems with the little ferocious beast. On a level, Nero thought of himself as a polar bear as well. For some reason. Well, the reason was probably more clear to Bobby than Nero himself. "You dumbass." Bobby shouted. "No. There is no such thing as an Ice Dragon.". The way he referred to Nero might have been pretty harsh for others, but Nero wasn't bothered by it. He didn't feel the aggression behind the word. "Then... How do you explain... SNOWY MOUNTAINS? HUH? Just give up at this point Bobby, your argument is pretty much falling on its own face.". Bobby snarked. "You are gonna get killed by the first Missing Ninja you come across. And I will watch it and entertain myself before teleporting home.". Nero chuckled, "You're just saying that. You don't mean it.". The polar bear sighed, as much as a polar bear could sigh. It sounded really close to the sound he made when he was snarking, in fact.

There was but a second of silence. Bobby thought, for that second alone, he might get the opportunity to rest his ears for a bit. Nero blurted out another question, "Do you think I can do bicycle kick?". Bobby tried his hardest not to give Nero the attention he was after. He couldn't help it. "I'll bite. What's a bicycle kick?". Nero rolled back, and started motioning a cycle with his legs, laying on his back. "It's like this, but airborne. Du Du Du Du Du.". The sound effects were a nice touch, or at least so thought the Yuki. "While airborne?" Bobby was perhaps for the first time, sincere in his confusion as opposed to a condescending sarcastic one, "How long do you think you can be airborne for?". Nero sat back up, and shrugged shortly after. "I can probably push a few seconds if I tried. Maybe close to a minute if I trained.". Bobby just shook his head, not mocking him anymore but legitimately engaging him. "No. You can't. That's completely unreasonable. You would certainly fall.". Nero countered the dismissal swiflty, "So I could possibly do it if I was falling.". He emphasized the 'was'. "Oh Bobby, you're a genius! Thanks. I never would have thought of it without you.". Bobby marveled at Nero's mind once again, simply letting out a "What?". Nero continued blabbering, "Well, if I was falling, I would be airborne the entire time. I would just need to be falling close to an enemy. I could potentially be doing a bicycle kick for a long time, depending on the height I'm falling from.".

Bobby laid down in defeat. "Nero. You can't seriously be expecting... Or worse, PLANNING...". Nero reassured him. "I'm not.". He smirked childishly "What? Would you be worried for me if I were?". Bob thought for a second. "Not particularly, no. In fact I might just enjoy seeing you jump - or fall off a cliff.". Nero faked a frown. "You don't mean that.". The sentence was not acknowledged by Bobby with an answer or even the slightest hint of a reaction. Nero addressed the lack of addressing. "You don't have to deny or accept it." he said, "I know. You're a softy inside.". Bobby smiled, perhaps the first time since Nero met him (his memory didn't serve him all too well about this little detail). "You assume that because I'm a polar bear? Don't let the fur fool you.". Nero expected an answer of the sort, being 'acquaintances' with Bobby (that's the word the polar bear preferred) for some time now. "No. Everyone can tell you're soft on the outside, and people who know you just a little can tell you're a bit harder below that.". Bobby's expression changed, he obviously felt smug after what he considered a victory, even if a small one. "So you cave in.". Nero shook his head. "You have layers, Bobby, like an ogre. You're soft on the outside, then hard on the layer below that, and then soft again under that second layer.". Nero thought it would have been touching. He expected Bobby to acknowledge this sentence. Bobby did not. He simply asked, "What the hell is an ogre?".

Nero sighed. "You don't deny the rest of the sentence.". Bobby sighed back. "I asked you a question, didn't I? Be a good acquaintance and answer it.". Nero smiled. He liked to think Bobby used the word acquaintance when he meant friends. He wasn't sure, and probably wouldn't be for some time.  It was just a theory. "You know..." he said, breaking the silence that (to Bobby's dismay) only lasted a few seconds, "An ogre? Big? Fat? Green? Have weirdly-shaped ears?". Nero was presumably going to keep listing qualities of ogres if Bobby didn't cut him off. "Have layers apparently.". Nero smiled. "Yes.". And he continued. "You know, ogres?". Bobby was not satisfied. "So like... Are they a species like polar bears? Do they work together with shinobi?". Nero thought about it for a solid minute before he could come up with an answer. "I don't think they do. They might. I don't know. I could check the book, if you're really curious.". Bobby turned his head, which at the time was upside down, looking at the land. "What book?". Nero was surprised Bobby would ask such a question. In fact he almost looked offended. "What do you mean what book? Are you implying I don't read books? Are you implying I CAN'T READ? What is all this hatred and presumption out of nowhere? You're supposed to be my friend, my summon, my companion, aren't you? I advise you to be a supporter, friend, not an attacker.". Bobby chuckled. "I was just asking what book.". Nero's face got red. "Oh.". Bobby didn't let Nero sit in this moment for too long, continuing, "Though it's easier not to hate you when you act like that.". Nero sighed, "Like a little b-". Bobby cut him off again, "Sincere.". Nero shook his head, "I'm almost always sincere.". Bobby smiled and repeated, "Almost.".

He got up from the surface of the sea and continued speaking, "So... I hope you didn't summon me just for talking. I don't think you have done anything of note in weeks.". Nero looked back at Kiri. "Yeah I guess so." he answered, "Sure, we'll do something today. Promise. But first! Let's go get that book.". Bobby shook his head, smiling. "As long as we get something done, anything.". Nero got up, and they walked back into the city. After a few minutes, they had reached Nero's apartment, walked into his room, and they were searching his drawer for the aforementioned book. "You sure you still have it?" Bobby asked with frustration. He was lying on Nero's bed, clearly bored. "It's gotta be here somewhere..." Nero answered, "I just read it a while ago.". The drawer was almost empty at that point. Nero removed a large black t-shirt that seemingly hadn't been washed in ages. And there, he finally saw the book under a shiny piece of metal he was ashamed to recognize. "Isn't that your-" Bobby was going to ask, had Nero not stopped him, "Yeah. The one and only.". Nero carefully held the corner of the book, trying not to touch the dagger. He then tilted the book, allowing said dagger to gently roll over and comfortably fall onto another black t-shirt. "What's with the shirts?" Bobby couldn't help but ask. There wasn't anything interesting or eye-catching about the shirts, but that was ironically what made them interesting when Bobby compared to Nero's large arsenal of colorful (and often over-the-top) clothing. Nero sighed, "It was a phase. I was... Not particularly fit at the time. When your self-respect takes a hit, you stop giving a shit.". Bobby raised his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting a sincere answer, but a dismissal. "I see." he simply answered.

Slowly, making the connection between the shirts and the dagger, Bobby realized what this particular drawer was. What it was for, what it meant. Perhaps he was wrong, but surely he did not want to ask for Nero to confirm his suspicion. After all, it wasn't even a theory, there were things that didn't fit. One thing in particular, the book. When they talked about it just a few minutes before, Nero seemed very enthusiastic about the book, and seemed equally so about bringing Bobby to his house to show it to him. This led him to believe the drawer wasn't what Bobby expected it was. Then again, even in that short event, there was something, just a tiny little thing that supported his initial suspicion. Nero knew exactly where the book was. Even when he had looked for too long and didn't find it, he didn't bother checking other places. In fact, he had skipped checking the most obvious places altogether. The bookcase, for one, that Bobby was surprised was something Nero even owned. Nero didn't bother to even glimpse at it when they entered the house. Either way, it was simply a suspicion if it even was that. There was nothing tangible. Perhaps the context of this book could reveal to Bobby how far off he was about the nature of this drawer.

Nero finally opened the book, after what felt to Bobby like an eternity. "The Story of Ogri the Ogre!" he read the title. Bobby was astounded. "What?" he said, "Can I see the cover please?". Nero turned the book to show Bobby what he asked for. The cover simply had the name of the book, and a drawing of what Bobby supposed was an Ogre. The name was written, and the ogre was drawn, in crayon. In 7 colors of it in fact. The lines weren't perfect, and the g's were both written in reverse."Nero..." Bobby spoke softly, "That is clearly a children's book. It looks like it was even made by one.". Nero was frozen for a few seconds, but he showed no change of emotion. "I have no idea whatsoever what you are talking about.". Bobby smiled. "You know, you over-enunciate when you  get nervous. Although I must admit you otherwise have a passable poker face.". Nero sighed. "Okay. I know. I first read this when I was really, really young.". Bobby raised his eyebrows, surprised that the less than elegantly drawn book was not made by Nero himself, but the Yuki actually chose to buy and read this. . "So..." Bobby said, wanting to gloss over the fact that the book was for children, and Ogres could in fact, be a product of imagination as opposed to a real creature. "What is it about then?". Nero frowned slightly. It was almost impossible to tell, but not for Bobby who had know when to look out for shifts in Nero's expression.

"It's about this ogre..." Nero started. So long there was no surprise for Bobby. He went on, "Who belongs in this culture centered around killing. People- I mean ogres, who wield weapons are especially looked up to.". Bobby started picking up some parallels, though he was not yet ready to make a judgement. Nero sighed before continuing, "And this one ogre, Ogry, is a real ogry ogre. But he's not great with weapons... Well he is, especially compared to a regular nin-... Ogre... He's actually pretty good. But there are these other ogres that he can't even lift a finger to. And in the end of the book, the one nin-... Ogre, that he thought was a match for him in ability beats him with ease and wins this giant... Ogre tournament.". Bobby looked at the back cover. There were a few words, written in red crayon "Written by NERO". Bobby shook his head softly with a smile. "Well," said Bobby, "You're only likely to end up like Ogry the Ogre, if you don't train. And you're all but guaranteed if you leave that dagger in your drawer forever. Better pick that up so we can make sure that you don't feel the need to keep this book anymore.". Nero sighed. He didn't seem eager, but he eventually nodded. He put the book down, and looked back inside the drawer. This time his eyes made contact with the dagger he had long refused to look at. He reached in, hesitant to pick it up at first, but after breathing in and out one more time, he was ready, and he grabbed it. He pulled it out of the drawer and showed it to Bobby. It was dustier than he remembered. He never let his weapons dust. None of them. He felt shame. He realised it was time to make this dagger shine again. And the only way to ever do that was to bathe it in blood.

[Exit, WC:2221:

11 Stats
2k towards Weaponry Spec
221 words towards Rain Tiger At Will (1052+221=1273/2500)]

Ok